What is a Soul?
by Kichino Sarafu
Summary: Kamira, the Songstress of Souls, gaurds the Forest of Souls which is a haven for lost spirits. One day, she meets an alluring travel with long silver hair, whom is soon followed by the vicious Demon, Naraku, who destroys her forest. Now where will the you
1. Forest of Souls

**A/N: **OMG! My first InuYasha fanfic! I've always been thinking about this one since my first crush on Lord Sesshy. drool But I just never got around to it. So. Enjoy!

**Chapter 1: Forest of Souls**

The sweet melody of my long flute carried out with the inky night sky. Long slender fingers lightly covered the circular holes of the gleaming silver. The trees themselves seemed to sway in motion with the tune. That's when light began to dimly brighten the small clearing. Orbs about the size of a baseball drifted lazily around me. They were mainly of bluish tint, some purple, and they contrasted greatly with the fireflies that dotted the landscape. This is where I first met him, in this forest of souls.

My long lashes flickered up as the sound of crushed grass met my long, pointed ears. My eyes of bright blue, so light in tint that they were almost white, quickly looked to the moving brush in front of me. I didn't move, but stopped my tune. This caused chaos among the orbs, which until recently had been following each other in a line, encircling me. Now that their musical lure had stopped, they all scattered into the sky. The intruder walked into the open, but with only the fireflies left for light, it was hard to identify him. The first thing I recognized was his long, flowing silver hair, which reflected the dim light more brightly than it should. Then my aqua orbs traced to his eyes. They were golden, serptine eyes, with a thin, black line running through the middle, and directed at me. Our eye's met for a moment which seemed like eternity to me. We read into each other's souls, and I gained a profound understanding that this man was a quiet fellow, who suppresed his feelings. And I grew the understanding that he was a deadly demon, very skilled in technique.

Then, our eyes seperated to observe the rest of the other. He wore a beautiful flower kimono, such was the fashion of this time, that spoke of wealth. He had simple armor. A breast plate, with a ring of spike running around one shoulder, and a traditional sash of yellow and purple hanging around his sides. Around his ungaurded shoulder was a long, fluffy white boa, whether of feather or of fur, I could not tell, such was its fluffiness. He sported the long white pants that poofed along the end and simple black tabi shoes.

I did not stand up, but lowered my flute so that I was no longer holding it to my lips. "What brings such a specimen of demonic power to this quaint forest of the dead?" I asked him in a calm, yet demanding tone.

"I am simply passing through," he answer in a calm, yet more demanding tone than I.

"To where, may I ask?"

"My destination is none of your concern."

I smirked. Another cocky one. I seemed to get a lot of those passing through my forest as of late. "What you speak is true. I have no authority to seek such information from you. Very well, traveler. I grant you passage through my forest, however, there are rules."

"State them."

"My forest holds the souls of those who cannot bear to part from this plane. Either they have regrets or such love of this world that they cannot pass over. It is my job to watch over them, gaurd them from trouble, and to keep them from causing trouble themselves. Whatever the situation, you must not interact with the souls. They are to remain untouched."

"Understandable."

"Secondly, my forest is meant to keep people in, not out. You must find your own way out of this labirynth. I will not help you."

"Yes."

"And lastly, for your own safety, do not eat anything from this forest. Nay plant nor animal. The animals are sacred creatures meant to keep the purity of this forest, and the plants likewise. They are not of this realm. Eating such may cause you to die. I know little of the consequences. If you require provisions, I'll lead you back the way you came and you may simply walk around my forest."

"I understand and agree to your terms, Sentinal. Now let us be gone. Come, Jaken."

I had noticed until now that a little creature of green color had been following him behind with a staff of two heads on the top. I felt I recognized this staff, but couldn't quite place my finger on it. "Does the little one agreee to the terms as well?"

"O-of course! I'll follow Lord Sesshoumaru anywhere! Even into this accursed forest."

I didn't take kindly to him insult my wood. I found it simply elegant. It was quiet, peaceful, and even though there was no other of my kind, I was never lonely. I had an entire race of souls with me, after all. I sighed. "Fine, you may go with your Lord, but I will punish you severely if you break my rules. Now be off. I have work to do."

The duo nodded and walked past me. I held my flute to my lips and continued to the melody from which I had begun, and my souls came back to me.

The demonic lord and his green-skinned vassal turned their heads to glance over their shoulders as a sweet chord came to their pointed ears. Jaken immeadiatly relaxed, and smiled drunkenly. He was about to turn around completely and go back to the enchantress, but a pale hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Jaken, we are heading this way," a deep voice broke his trance.

"Ah! Y-yes, my l-lord! Please forgive me! I do not know what came over me!" The young demon squabbled as he hastily went ahead, infront of his lord, whom followed after him.

'_Such enchanting music,_' The silver-haired lord mused.'_It does draw the soul. I'm having a difficult time resisting, myself. I must not linger on such matters. I must keep my wits about me. This forest seems more dangerous than she lets on._'

The two continued on through the forest for some hours. Tredding deeper and deeper into the enchanted woods.

I gathered up my white kimono, and black veil that hung along my elbows, with some of it floating lazily in the air. My flute has held lazily at my side, and I gazed through the trees. Something was coming. Something evil. I frowned. "What foul stench dares pollute the sacred air of this holy forest?" I demanded aloud, my crisp voice carrying across the wind, staccato.

The was a loud rumble and the ground shook. I could sense some trees being torn down by something of eminse size. When the monster finally revealed itself, clearing the trees in front of me, I saw it to be a large albino wolf with murderous red eyes. My frown deepened. A Soul-Eater.

A flash of beige fur fell from the tall back of the wolf, and landed in front of me. There was a man, of demon descent I could tell, but the foul stench of a human lingered around him too. He must've been a half-breed. He wore a dark violet kimono and a fur coat around it. His hair was greasy, black, and crinkly. It hang it disgusting vines down his shoulders and his vicious red eyes were laughing at me. He smiled smuggly, and bowed politely. "Dearest Karmina of the Forest of Souls, I bid you hello. I Am the Demon, Naraku. I have heard greatly of your splendor and this lovely estate you hold."

"Cut the crap, demon! You're here for my souls, so just say so. Don't be so petty with me! I will not let you take these souls."

"Oh, I see, you are not one for formalities. Very well then. I'll get right down to business. Go!"

The Soul-Eater complied and lunged forth at me, his massive claws threatening to engulf me. I leapt back to avoid them and threw my flute into the air, hand held high. "Tsuki! Transform!"

The silver flute glowed brightly, twirling in the air, and then it grew longer and two blades of deadly sharpness sprung forth at the ends. I caught it in the air as gravity pulled it back down. "Die, Monster!" I called out as I leapt up ontop of the wolven creature and sliced of one of its long, furry ears.

Lord Sesshoumaru turned around as the cry of a huge monster rung through-out the forest. "A battle is underway."

"Should we see who it is, my lord?" Jaken asked, holding the staff tightly.

"I'm not sure. This forest clouds my senses. I can't tell who it is. It's none of our business, anyway. Let's keep going."

Jaken hesistantly nodded his heaad and followed his master.


	2. Prevent Forest Fires

**A/N: **Second Chapter! So soon!

**Chapter 2: Prevent Forest Fires**

The cry of the Soul-Eater was so loud, I fell off of its back, clutching my ears in pain.When it finally stopped its squeal, it bite down into the ground to gain revenge for its lost ear, but I had already regained my senses and leapt out of the way. The monster had gotten smarter, however, it was a step ahead of me and it crushed me with its massive paw. The tip of it was on my stomach, causing me to spit, since I hadn't eaten anything in a while so I couldn't puke. However, my arms were free and I drew my scythe/flute to my lips and played a soft tune. The Soul-Eater swayed a bit, and then fell to the ground in a pool of its own blood, sleeping.

I stood up, breathing awkwardly, surprised that I wasn't two dimensional. Once I regained a normal breathing rate, the ground beneath me shook. I turned my gaze to the right to find terror in my wake. There were three other Soul-Eaters, and they were flattening my forest.

Now Sesshoumaru new something unprofitable to him was going on. The ground was shaking and he could hear many trees crashing following that blood-curdling scream from the monster.

"M-my lord!" Jaken screamed, hiding behind his legs. "A terrible battle has begun! I know these wolf-like giants! They are Soul-Eaters! And true to their name they feast upon wandering souls, and if they can't find those, they kill people to then extract their soul! This must be the jackpot for them!"

"Yes. It's a wonder this forest wasn't devoured long ago if these 'Soul-Eaters' roam in this many numbers."

"No, my lord! This is an unusual event! Soul-Eaters are scarce, and usually don't come in packs like normal wolves. They tend to stick to themselves."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "Someone must have gathered them. Curse this forest. It clouds my senses! I'm seeing things for mys-"

He stopped when the image of the Soul gaurdian flashed across the sky. She didn't appear injured, but she looked truly frightened and extremely pissed.

"Jaken. Call Rin. We need the dragons."

"Y-yes my lord!"

Jaken left to send the signal with his staff into the sky that signaled to Rin, who Lord Sesshoumaru had not allowed into the Forest, for he feared for her life, she was only a human girl. Soon after, a young girl, raggedy looking, but smiling brightly arrived upon a two-headed emerald dragon no larger than a horse. Sesshoumaru leapt ontop of the dragon, and Jaken was lucky enough to have grabbed onto his boa on time to catch the ride.

They flew into the night sky. Jaken and Rin gasped in horror as three monstrous creatures blotted the horizon. The rising sun gave little light to veiw these creatures, but the trio had no problem in seeing the terror. It seemed as though a beam of light was coming out of their mouths, or rather, coming _in_ their mouths. A closer look revealed many little orbs of light being sucked into the giant beasts.

"Those are Soul-Eaters all right! With each Soul they devour, the greater their power becomes."

The other two were silent as the sun rose higher in the sky, and all becoming more visible. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly at what he saw.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Was my cry as I flew at these evil bastards who were smashing my home and eating my friends. As I jumped through the air, I went into my true form. My eyes inverted colors, my iris becoming a fierce white, while the rest of my eyes were black. My hair grew longer and my bangs spiked out. I grew two new pairs of ears, and fangs protruded from my mouth. My limbs grew longer, sharper, my nails transformed into claws, and I sprouted silver webbed wings from my back. (For a pic of her true form click here: http/i20. claws drove straight into the neck of one of the monsters, but that most of only felt like a scratch to it. To make it worst I twisted my hand in the wound and white lightening burst through the entire creatures body, electrifying it. The Soul-Eater fell to the ground, dead. I turned my blood-thirsty eyes to the nearest one which growled at me defensively. Another second, and I disappeared, only to reappear right in front of the giant wolf, and a shockwave blast that through trees through the air and created a canyon in the ground.

"RAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!"

My unworldly roar resonated through the morning air and I began to slice the throat of the Soul-Eater like crazy, slowly shredding it until I had thoroughly decapitated it. A lake of blood had formed beneath me, and I was covered in the crimson liquid, yet I didn't mind. I gave another cry to the sky, my sorrow profound and great. The other Soul-Eater was stupidly trying to eat as much as it could before it ran away. "DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!"

I held my hands above my head, pooring all my anger and sorrow into the energy ball of white lightening. It swelled to the size of a wagon befor I hurled it at the subject of all my pain. It burst the Soul-Eater open, its gore spilling across the torn landscape. I cried into the air, my heart hurting so badly. Even though all the creatures were dead, I was still pissed. I created another lightening ball (Chidori!) and threw it at the ground, causing a crater.

"AAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!"

I threw another one, and another, hating that spot of ground so much, until I was bombarding it with continuous blasts of energy. I cried into the air once again, and this lasted until I slowly transformed back into my former self, with nothing inhuman about me exept my eyes and ears, and hair, I guess, although white hair wasn't so uncommon. Losing my wings caused me to fall to the ground.

The three, human and demon alike, were awed by the magnificent performance of destruction they had just seen. Whoever would've guessed that such a quiet girl held so much power. And that girl was falling. "Catch her!" Sesshoumaru ordered and the dragons obliged. The young woman was three meters away from the ground when she was finally saved from certain injury. Physical anyway.

The dragon landed on the ground and Karmina slooped to the ground. Her knees buckled as her heart gavce way to despair. The forest was gone. Trees had been flung away from the Soul-Eaters, and her impressive fury. Only thing that remained was a flat plain of dirt.

"WAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Karmina cried desperatly, not holding back her sobs as she lifted her head to the sky. "My...friends..." she gasped between sobs. "They were...my friends...this...was...my home...I'm alone...again."

The sorrow was too much for her. She flung her head to the ground, in her arms and cried uncontrollably. The three were silent, and uncomfortable. They had just met this girl and had no way of comforting her. Then, the human, Rin, walked towards her and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. Karmina flung around and grabbed onto the startled girl desperately, wetting her kimono with tears. The startled girl's face softened and she turned to Sesshoumaru with such a look of pity.


	3. Never Alone

**A/N: **Yay! Ch. 3 comes to you today! It seems like the only time I get to update is on the weekends, so expect new weekly chapters from now on for all my stories! (Except for the Blue-eyed. That one's taking a while.)

**Chapter 3: Never Alone**

I awoke with the ground to my left and the tree filled sky to my right. I was confused. Shouldn't it be a different way? The sky and ground turned so that they were horizontal once more, and I rubbed my aching head. My eyes were puffy and I felt like...shit, to be precise. The first bit of information that transferred in my head was that we were in a forested area. My heart swelled. I must still be home. Home...

It call came back like a sudden tsunami of memories. "Oh, my gosh! My forest! The Souls! I have to save them! I have to protect them!" I stood up in my craze and fell back down as the world began to turn sides again.

"Calm down!" an unfamiliar small voice told me. I registered that it came from behind so I turned around to find a small human girl I had never seen before. "You should lie back down. You haven't gotten over your fever yet."

"Yes, lady songstress," a small, green-skinned creature with bug eyes addressed me. "That was a fierce battle and it seems you are tired emotionally as well as physically. How are you feeling?"

"Not as bad as your looks," I stated bluntly as my brain reminded me that this creature was the one called Jaken, who had accompanied the stranger who asked passage through her forest.

"Why I never!" Jaken fumed and stomped off towards a glimmering visage that leaned against a tree.

Even though I recognized him as the traveler, Lord Sesshoumaru, who had crossed my forest, I never truly saw him until the morning sun shone apon him. He was a breath-taking sight. He carried the noble beauty of a demon lord. His silver hair reflected the soft morning rays with sharp power. His golden eyes looked more like sappy jewels then actual eyes. And his body was nothing short of a god. I never truly gave his handsome splendour credit when I first met him in the moonlight. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my cheeks grow hot, which soon spread through the rest of my body. I soon became aware that my mouth was gaping open and I soon closed it.

"Oh, my! I think you're fever is rising!" the human cried out as she felt my forehead, causing me to break my stupified gaze from the godly beauty. "You're face is all red!"

"Yeah, it does feel a bit hot," I sighed, and my words had double meaning, but luckily, the human only took the innocent meaning.

"Here, have some water," she shoved a drinking sac in my face.

I hesitantly took and brought it to my lips. The sweet, cool liquid felt pleasant down my dry and sore throat. I drank as much as I dared and handed it back to her with a satisfied sigh. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she politely replied, taking the sac and putting it into a pack. "By the way, I'm Rin. You don't know because I wasn't following Lord Sesshoumaru and Jaken into the forest. They wanted me to go around."

"Because your human," I thought aloud. "A wise decision. Humans are weak against the mischeif of my beloved forest."

I frowned. _My beloved forest._ It was gone. Flattened. Damn him! Damn that Naraku! Why? Why did he ever show up? Why did he decide to destroy her forest. "To power up the Soul-Eaters, of course," I mumbled my thoughts to myself.

The others stared at me. "Lady Songstress?"

I looked up at the one who had spoken, Jaken. "My name is Karmina of the Forest of Souls. Well...previously of the Forest of Souls. You shall address as Lady Karmina, as my status permits."

Jaken gave me a look of contempt but obliged. "Yes, Lady Karmina. So..please enamorate on wht you spoke earlier. What were these Soul-Eaters doing in your forest?"

My eyes turned sharp and my frown, a snarl. "Blasted Soul-Eaters! As you may know, they feed off souls, so my Forest was an 'all-you-can-eat buffet' to them. With each soul they eat, the more their power increases. However, they did not come here of their own accord. Someone led them here."

Jaken and Rin gasped. "Who?" the asked harmoniously.

"A demon by the name of Naraku."

This caught Lord Sesshoumaru's attention. He looked up at me, interested. "Naraku?"

"Yes, that is what he called himself. He must've been stopping by my forest to power up his little 'pets' before he decided to use them, for whatever it was he had planned for them. That plan is ruined, now that I killed all of them."

Everyone remembered the tragic battle that had exploded out onto the forest. I realized with dread that part of the forest's destruction was my fault, but I was just so pissed and distressed and heart-broken. I couldn't control the immense power that lay dormant inside of me. I had to take it out on someone. I fought to suppress that passionate feeling of sorrow, so as not to unleash it once again.

"What will you do now?" the golden eyes were not on me, but looking into the far off distance.

"I don't know. I was stripped of my home and occupation all in one night. I...I don't know where to go. What to do..." I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to think of what my future might be. I almost swayed from the anxiety.

"Why don't you join us?"

All eyes were on the young girl, Rin, who had just spoken. She was a strange little human girl, slightly cute with her missing tooth, but strange for a human. Who would invite an unkown demon to accompany them? Especially after they saw _that_ display of power. Sure, I had no control over it, but she didn't know that. I looked to Sesshoumaru for permisison. I would love nothing more than to be with him for the rest of my life; he was so beautiful! He also seemed to be the one in charge of their little group.

"Why should I deal with her?" he asked coldly, but wasn't exactly expecting an answer, or wanted one.

I turned to him, sitting formally with my legs folded beneath me. I bowed down, my hands on the ground and my fore-head resting on them. "Please allow me to accompany you, at least until I find new purpose in my life! To wander this planet with neither friend no purpose is worse than hell!"

I knew very well hat that was like. The beginning of my existence, as far as I can remember, this is the zombified life I lived. I was ignorant. Stupid. Alone. Until I met the former Soul Gaurdian. He played the flute so beautifully. Much more beautituflly than I. His music is what led me to him. He saved me. Gave me purpose. Raised me. He taught me all that I knew, and when he finally left this realm, I carried on his legacy. But now that I had failed and he was gone. I swallowed the tears that threatened come out.

"Another burden," the deep voice sighed at me and I looked up with such a look of explicit joy that I felt like hugging him right then and there, but knew it might only result in my decapitation.

Rin hugged me happily, and I smiled softly. This girl wasn't actually as bad as most humans. Maybe this life might be better for me.

The afternoon heat blazed down on the demonic-one part human-group. The group was drinking at a freshwater spring and taking a rest in the mountainous valley. Karmina had just finished telling them all about her, well, all that she felt like telling, however. The silver-haired beauty suspected there was more. She explained her once vocation and her powers.

"This is my flute, Tsuki," the songstress held the silver instrument up for all to see. "And once I do this..." She thrust her flute into the air, to give it some room, and shouted, "Tsuki Transform!" It elongated into her scythe, which she caught from its fall. "...it becomes Akaaka Tsuki, or 'Bright Moon.' This is its fighting form. I can play music in this form, also, but it's attack magic. In its dormant form, Tsuki, I can use supportive magic, like healing or sheilds."

"Do you have to call its name out everytime you transform it?" Jaken snorted, but his question was the one Sesshoumaru was waiting for.

"Yes, actually. It reacts to the sound of my voice, and only to certain sounds, its name. Now, Akaaka Tsuki runs off my power, so once I'm out of power, so is it, so it automatically goes back to its dormant state, Tsuki. I call it 'dormant' because it requires no energy in this state, so it gives me time to recharge. I can, however, change it back to Tsuki, by doing this."

She held Akaaka Tsuki out in her hand, arm stretched in front of her, and calmly said, "Tsuki, Return." Her weapon glowed for a second with a silver light, then it was back into its normal flute size and she tucked it back between the cloth that was tied around her waist.

"Karmina," I finally spoke. I was curious to see her skills in combat, besides that vicious transformation that took place. "What about that thing you transformed into?"

She froze and an unpleasant look was on her face. The Demon Lord raised his eyebrows. This was going to be interesting.

"That...even I know little about that. All I know is that when I feel some sort of emotion to the extreme, it magnifies t to an unbelievable degree and I do unbelievable things. I almost killed myself once when I saw an ape demon it a puppy."

Sesshoumaru found that picture slightly amusing. She always had this calm, collected demeanor about her, that he could never imagine her cutting herself over a young pup. "Why don't you show us what you can do with that flute?" Sesshoumaru demanded more than asked, a flat tone in his voice which completely contrasted to the actual sentence. He seemed almost annoyed.

"Yes! Play a song for us!" Rin added, excited.

Karmina sighed and held the flute to her lips. Her slim fingers lightly played across the top of the flute, a crisp staccato flying through the air. The melody was a heart lifting one, that was encrested with magic to give energy to her new companions. Everyone, even Lord Sesshoumaru, felt revitalized and ready to take on the day. Karmina was just getting to the end of her tune when a loud roar resonated through the valley. Karmina stopped her music just as a giant bear demon came crashing through the trees. _Oh no!_ Karmina thought with fear. _My music attracted a demon!_

The young songstress found that her worries were for nought, because Lord Sesshoumaru flicked two fingers in the air. A whip of light followed his movements and seperated the head from the body of the bear demon. Its body fell limp on the ground, blood pouring into the clear spring. "That's also a disadvantage of Tsuki being in its dormant form. I can't direct the sound waves, so anyone can hear it, and it will work on anyone."

Rin and Jaken, who had finally calmed their racing hearts looked up at Karmina. An awkward silence passed bewteen the nomads, and then Sesshoumaru began to walk down their path. Everyone silently followed.


	4. Dumped

**A/N: **I'm so happy! I got so many reviews. So, I'm rewarding you with the next chapter!

**Chapter 4: Dumped**

They left the valley that day, and the land rolled out into a wooded area. But more importantly, they could see many villages dotting the landscape. "Humans," Jaken said, almost with disgust. Karmina had had little interaction with humans, so she felt indifferent towards them. They walked down into the valley, when Sesshoumaru suddenly went rigid. "I smell Naraku," he growled. Apparantly, the dog-demon didn't take to kindly to this Naraku fellow.

_Though I can understand how he feels,_ Karmina thought as she fought angry tears. _He's taken away my friends, and my home. My previous life is gone._

"I'll continue on ahead, you two stay here," Sesshoumaru ordered the shorties.

Karmina stepped up. "What about me!"

He flicked his golden eyes my direction as if he had forgotten she existed. "You can gaurd them in case anyone attacks them."

"Hell no! I've got a bone to pick with that Naraku also! No way, I'm coming with you!"

"Me too!" Rin decided to take her chance now. "I'm worried about you when you run off like this, Lord Sesshoumaru. Me and Jaken want to stay near you, always!"

Sesshoumaru was silent and frowning. He obviously thought we would be a nuisance.

"I'll still protect them," Karmina added, more quietly this time. "Just, we'll be with you instead of back here where, in the case we needed your hope, we would be helpless."

He was quiet, thinking. "Fine, but don't get in my way."

The three smiled at each other. They had achieved their goal. Sesshoumaru leapt into the air, flying in the direction he sensed the Demon Lord, and Rin and Jaken followed an Ah-Un, the two-headed dragon. Luckily, Karmina jumped onto the dragon just in time. Rin looked at Karmina in surprise. "Can't you fly, Lady Karmina?"

Karmina shook my head negative. "No. I can only do that in my true form, which I believe you saw before. I don't know how to release all my powers. My teacher died before I could compl;ete my training."

"Your teacher?"

Karmina smiled at the curious young girl. "Yes, my father."

"You had a father! Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, of course you had a father, but I. . .I forget sometimes that demons have parents. They seem so different."

"I understand. He wasn't my real father though. I have no idea where I came from."

"Ah. . .I'm sorry."

"What for? It's not your fault that happened."

"I. . .know." Rin muttered quietly and let it drop.

A few seconds of silence and then Karmina decided to change the topic. Sesshoumaru was a few paces ahead, but she was sure he could hear their conversation. "Why does Lord Sesshoumaru hate Naraku so much?"

Rin went rigid, then relaxed her body. Jaken was the one who answered though. "Rin was kidnapped by Naraku, and since then, Lord Sesshoumaru has sworn vengeance."

"Sesshoumaru must value you greatly, Rin," Karmina said with jealousy in her heart, but didn't let it show in her voice.

Rin was flushing, embarassed. Karmina's feminine instincts told her that Rin didn't dislike that thought.

They continued on, but with Karmina's face in a shallow frown. The first sign of disaster was a female scream. Sesshoumaru flicked his eyes in recognition and landed in a clearing of trees. Karmina and the others landed soon after. They came upon a battle scene in progress.

There was a white-haired boy with dog-ears in a red kimono that gave me the distinct feeling of Sesshoumaru, but he wasn't nearly as handsome as the demon lord. Next to him was a human girl that looked very much like the demon slayers from the scrolls my father-sensei had shown me before. On the other side of dog boy was a young human monk with a staff of jingling rings. Behind the odd trio was a young human girl in an odd outfit that I didn't recognize. She was sitting on the floor as if she had just been blown back. Next to her was a young fox demon boy looking over her, worried. In front of all of them was a single woman, obviously derived from demon blood, and her eyes were the same glowing red as Naraku's. _In fact,_ Karmina noted, _Her soul tastes the same as Naraku's, but. . .different._

Everyone looked at the new arrivals, and the Naraku-taste-a-like. "Her soul tastes the same as Naraku's, Sesshoumaru!" Karmina yelled over to him.

He looked at the albino. She knew what he was thinking. He was wondering why she used 'tastes' instead of 'is'. She had forgot to mention to them that she could taste souls, but not actually eat them. "I know, Karmina. She is an incarnate of Naraku. Her name is Kagura."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. That wasn't what she expected. Kagura scowled, and then she was enshrouded with winds, never to be seen again. Now that their enemy was gone, the hybrid group looked our way. "What brings you here, Sesshoumaru?" the white-haired boy yelled quite rudely. Karmina glared at him. How dare he yell at one so handsome as Lord Sesshoumaru!

Sesshoumaru was unaffected by it, but he did reply with extra icy coldness. "You know very well. I smelt Naraku so I came to see if it was him."

"Who's the broad? You get yourself a good woman to ban-"

He didn't get to finish. Karmina's fist was already shoved into his face, sending him flying back. "DON'T YOU EVER TALK SO RUDELY TO LORD SESSHOUMARU LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!"

Everyone looked at her astonished. She could feel her blood boiling and her hair lifting up to go into her true form.

"Karmina, calm down," Sesshoumaru's voice interrupted her transformation, but he couldn't say he hadn't enjoyed that punch.

The angry girl let out a low, menacing growl, before she let out a breath of air and her hair settled down. "I'm sorry, but please do not speak of Lord Sesshoumaru so unkindly, or I will be forced to rip that tongue out of your mouth."

She bowed and then walked back over to Sesshoumaru. Now that her anger had settled, she felt a little embarassed. When had she become so loyal to Sesshoumaru, or was she just smitten by him? Or was it both?

The young human girl in the funky clothes and a bow and quiver of arrows finally managed to get on her feet. "No, thanks, everyone. I'm fine, no need to worry about me." Her voice was so full sarcasm she was practically choking on it.

The other humans moved toward her, apologizing, while the dog-boy stood up and came closer, too full of manly-pride to apologize for ignoring her. Now that he was closer, Karmina could taste his soul. It wasn't a pure taste, like everyone elses. It was two tastes. _He's a half-breed,_ she realized.

While she had pondered this, the human monk had made his way over to her. He stood next to her, a sly smile on his face. "Well, well," he chuckled cunningly, eating her with his eyes. "I see Sesshoumaru found himself a lovely companion." His hand began to slip down her waist and feel her bottom. It was like an electrifying shock. Her hair stood on end. She yanked him by the tiny ponytail on the back of his hand. "**You get anywhere within a ten meter radius of me, and I swear I will haunt you with a thousand souls of death and curse you so that you will never have any children, got it pal!**"

"Ow! Ow! I give!" The monk cried and ran away from her, only to get smacked across the head with the demon slayer girl with her giant boomerang.

Karmina soon became acquianted with everyone. She found out that the perverted monk was called Miroku, and she swore to write that on a voodoo doll someday. The demon slayer girl was called Sango, and the oddly dressed human girl was called Kagome, and she apparantly wasn't from these parts. The young fox-boy was Shippo, and she couldn't help herself but want to hug him when he made the cutest face. He was just so cute! While she blushed, thinking of all the cute outfits she could put him in, the hanyou introduced himself.

"I'm Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru's brother," he said, blushing with embarassment.

Karmina froze, gone to stone. "WHAAT!" She flicked around, and was staring at Inuyasha, in his red face. "YOU'RE RELATED TO LORD SESSHOUMARU! BUT YOU LOOK NOTHING ALIKE! (Well, except for the hair, maybe.)"

Inuyasha was silent, his face was red, staring at the dangerously close face of Karmina. Sesshoumaru grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back. "Stop gawking like that. It's unsightly. We share the same father, that's all."

Karmina looked at Sesshoumaru curiously. His eyes were cold and indifferent. She was sure he was surpressing whatever feeling he had. She was quiet, and then turned back, and she felt a sudden shiver in her spine. She looked over at the human girl with odd clothes, whom they had said was a priestess, was looking at me. Because she could taste her soul, she could feel the utter jealousy and even and the soft glare she was giving her. Apparantly, she had gotten too close to her man...or dog.

"Rin, Jaken. Let's go." Sesshoumaru ordered and the others got ready to leave, hopping on Ah-Un. Karmina frowned. He had said 'Rin, Jaken', but not 'Karmina.' Did he still not notice her existence. She stood still, looking at the ground, depressed.

"Hey, wait! That's it! You're just gonna leave without a fight!" Inuyasha yelled at him, his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to whip it out of its sheath.

Sesshoumaru turned around to give him an agitated glare. "No point in wasting my energy on you."

Inuyasha growled, but Sesshoumaru had already flown off. Rin waited for Karmina to get on Ah-Un. She made the motion to get on, but Sesshoumaru pulled on the dragon's reigns, pulling it away from the confused songstress. "No, Karmina. You're staying with them. You just wanted a companion to guide you through the world until you find purpose, right? They will take you in. They'll take _anyone_ in. So, you won't be traveling with us anymore."

The words were so cold, and cutting, Karmina stood there in shock. She was being dumped off. "B-but...you promised!"

He turned back around to glare at her angrily, his golden eyes full of hate and menace. "You're not my problem anymore." That ended the conversation and he led the worried Rin and confused Jaken away.

Karmina stood still. She had just been dumped. All the friends she had were taken away from her, but she was utterly rejected this time. Her heart was in termoil, didn't know what to do. Her mind was over-working trying to find out an answer to this problem. Her brain couldn't take it. She snapped.

"**YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU JUST DUMP ME OFF LIKE THAT! WELL FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE! I DON'T NEED YOUR PANSY WEARING SISSY-NESS ANYWAY! WHY DON'T YOU JUST FUCK NARAKU, YOU TRANSVESTITE! BURN IN HELL! I SWEAR I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS ONE DAY! YOU'RE HEAD IS MINE, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"**

Karmina didn't realize when she had transformed, but she did. However, she was a little different this time. She was red. Sesshoumaru stared at her, apalled, and then flew away from Karmina and her double duece. She finally calmed down when he became nothing more than a dot in the distance, and she went back to her albino self. "Well, I guess I'm stuck with you guys, please pardon my intrusion." She bowed politely to their stunned faces.


	5. Enter Haruki

**A/N: **Disclaimer: Don't own any of the original characters.

So, I finally finished Chapter 5. I was so engrossed in the NLOKS(Sarafu's story) that I couldn't work on this.I'm gonna have to watch more Sesshy vids to get reinspired!

**Chapter 5: Enter Haruki**

Even though our meeting was abrupt, I took my time getting to know my new companions. Inuyasha, the fighter and sometimes leader, was hot-tempered and rash. His temerity brought him many wounds, but his youkai blood healed them quickly. He was extremely entertaining when he was with Kagome, the priestess from another time. Kagome had a mysterious power. Each time she said "Sit," the beads on Inuyasha's neck glowed brightly and thrust him into the ground with a loud explosion. At times like these, I couldn't help, but laugh. Kagome herself was a nice girl. She was very kind to me, but when Inuyasha acted up, she was quick to punish. Sango, the demon-slaying human, was kind and polite. She wasn't as sociable as Kagome, but she wasn't distant either. Her skills and knowledge of the youkai world were amazing, and I wasn't sure if there was any demon she couldn't slay. Her relation to Miroku was similar to Kagome's relationship with Inuyasha. If Miroku acted up, she was quick to knock him upside the head with her enormous boomerang. Miroku himself was someone I could grow to hate easily, but his human kindness kept me from killing him. The lecherous monk never ceased to grab a handful of cheek whenever we were next to each other. If Sango didn't save him by punching him in the face and dragging him off for more torture, he would surely be dead by now. I found that Sango had a little pet cat demon named Kilala. She was so cute in her smaller form, but when we required faster transportation or were in battle, she morphed into her larger form, where fire carressed her clawed paws. She had excellent combo attacks with Sango, and I could tell that they were life-long friends. And who couldn't forget Shippo! He was my absolute favorite! He was so tiny and cute, and his fluffy little tail always made me squeal with delight. He was the cutest little fox demon I had ever seen. His teal eyes were big and round, and always had a glint of childhood in them. I couldn't resist wanting to dress him up.

"Shhhhiiiiippppooooooo!"

The young fox demon went rigid, and turned around shakily, afraid of what he might find.

I held a tuxedo in my hands and my eyes glowed with a strange desire. "Try this one on!"

"Nooooo!!" the poor fox boy cried as he desperately tried to escape my clutches.

"Miroku came up with a bold smile. "I will try it on for you, my l-"

I shoved my fist into his face before he could finish his sentence and went back to gazing, starry eyed, at Shippo, who ran behind Kagome's legs fearfully.

"Karmina," Kagome started, and I frowned at her interference. "You know Shippo doesn't like it when you dress him up. Please stop chasing him around."

It was at times like these that I could slit her throat. How dare she get in between me and my cute little kitsune!

"Yes, Kagome is right," Miroku sighed as he rubbed his aching head from all the poundings he had gotten. "Shippos is afraid of your aggressiveness, I however-"

I punched him again, not even looking his way. My eyes were only for Shippo. "B-but...he's just so cute!!" I squealed again and made another leap for Shippo, but he eluded me once again.

"Hey, you guys!" Inuyasha yelled as us from the lead. "Stop foolin' around! I smell trouble up ahead."

I immeadiatly got over Shippo and looked at Inuyasha with a serious face. "Is it a demon?"

Inuyasha sniffed again. "Yeah. A powerful one too. This isn't your ordinary low-life. I also smell. . .blood. Human blood."

I frowned. I wasn't a lover of humans, but most of my soul friends were once humans, so I almost felt a kinship towards them. And Demons weren't my favorite race either, even if I was one. They were the reason I had a job. _Had_.

"We should hurry," Kagome stated the obvious. Kilala transformed and we all, excluding Inuyasha seeing as how he could leapt along side, rode Kilala to where Inuyasha tracked the source of the smell.

We soon arrived upon a flaming human village. People ran frantically, screaming for dear life, ignoring the new comers. We went against the flow of the crowd. The flames were extremely opressive, but I ignored the fact and continued on, despite everyone's calls out to me.

Sweat beaded my forehead as I searched through the burning huts and homes. I could still taste a human soul here. Someone hadn't escaped yet. Maybe they were being devoured by the demon right now. I picked up my pace, a feeling of anxiety washing over me, until I burst through a wall of flame to come upon an awful scene. A young man, human with dashing features for such an inferior race, was warding of an enormous dragon, with piles of dead bodies behind him. Actually, it was small for a dragon, but was much bigger than I. (Smaller than the Soul-Eaters though.) It was a crimson dragon, with a long winding body, and a mane of flames trailing down its back. Two whiskers trailed from below its nostrils and floated along gracefully in the heated air. Its golden feline eyes turned to me in anticipation. Was I a worthy opponent? Would I interfere. Hell yes.

I whipped out my flute and called out, "Tsuki! Transform!" Akaaka Tsuki glowed brightly in my skilled hands as I stood in between the fire dragon and its prey.It growled fiercely at me and opened its mouth to blast me with a great ball of fire. I quickly brought the flute to my lips and played a calming tone despite my pumping heart. The flames came toward me, but were split by an invisible wall that gaurded me and the human boy behind me. The dragon noted this and stopped his continuous barrage of flames. Then it swiped at me with its tail. I easily jumped into the air to avoid, but with a sweatdrop, I realized something. I had forgotten about the boy!

I looked over my shoulder and gave a sigh of relief. Inuyasha had leapt throough and saved him just in time. "Hey, Karmina!" He yelled at me angrily. "Are you an idiot! Don't just come running in a fire and then not save anyone!"

I smiled, pushing his biting comments to the side to be thankful. But the dragon left me little time. It smacked me with its tail, sending me crashing through a burning building. "Karmina!" I heard Inuyasha calling out to me, but I rebounded, leaping out of the house just as it collapsed. Luckily, I was quick enough to get by with only minor burns. Inuyasha, now that he knew I was safe, put his hand on his hilt.

Now that I came to think of it, I had never seen Inuyasha use his sword before. He called out its name, Tetsuaiga, before he whipped it out of its sheath. Along the rim of it, a yellow light glowed, and the sword came out much bigger than the sheath. How was that possible? How could he pull that big-ass sword out of that little sheath?

"WIND SCAR!!!" Inuyasha yelled out triumphantly and sliced the air with his enourmous weapon. There was a great wave of light and the dragon was decapitated. Well, we were out of the frying pain and into the fire, literally. The ragining inferno had long since enveloped the entire village and now was oppressing us who were in the middle of it. Inuyasha put his sword back in, it returning to a small weakling sword, and walked over to the human boy. "Come on, Karmina. Let's get out of here before we become ash." I nodded and followed him, as he lifted the human and leapt out of the village.

"Oh, my gosh! Are you guys okay?" Kagome ran toward us with the rest of the gang.

"No sweat!" Inuyasha boasted. "Though it was troublesome to have to save Karmina like that."

I blushed, embarassed that what he said was slightly true. "SHUT UP!"

Everyone laughed, but they were soon interrupted as the dazed human came to. "Umm. . ." he came up to me, looking very abashed. "Thank you, miss, for saving me."

"HEY!" Inuyasha yelled. "I was the one who saved you!"

The human ignored him and looked up at me with grateful eyes, which I soon realized were a sweet maple syrup color.

It confused me, and immeadiatly made me think of Sesshoumaru for some reason. "Umm, yeah, you're welcome."

He smiled broadly, resembling a little boy, it almost made me coo over him like I do Shippo. "My name's Haruki. May I inquire as to the name of my savior?"

"Your isavior/i is Inuyasha!" the dog-boy grumbled at the lack of appreciation.

It made me laugh. "My name's Karmina."

Haruki raised his eyebrows. "'Karmina?' That sounds foreign."

"It is. I'm not Japanese, or at least part of me isn't. I don't exactly know my wherabouts, but the name father said I came with was Karmina."

"But you look Japanese," Sango stepped in. "We never would've guessed. . ."

"Although my blood isn't native to Japan, I still grew up here," I retorted, feeling the need to protect myself. "My earliest memories are of Japan, so I still consider myself Japanese."

"That's true," Kagome agreed. "You don't seem foreign at all. Well, I guess it doesn't really matter anyway."

I was glad they understood.

"Well, let's head out on our way then," Inuyasha stated in a carefree manner.

"Wait!" I interluded. "What about Haruki? We can't just leave him here! He has no home anymore! He's the last of his village! We can't just leave him like this, with no place to go!"

Inuyasha frowned. I was bagage enough to him. "Well, I guess we could drop him off at the next village we see."

I gulped down a lump in my throat. I knew Inuyasha wasn't trying to be mean, but his words reopened a wound in my heart. "You and your brother are just alike," I growled and grabbed Haruki, pulling him along with me. "Come on Haruki! I'll make sure you've got a suitable home!"

"Ah!" He gasped in surprise and stumbled after me as I stormed off. Inuyasha's group didn't follow me, but only watch me walk off with distant eyes.


	6. A New Traveling Companion

**A/N: **Yeah. I a funke right now, but I'm slowly getting my groove back! And my English teacher would be so proud with all the vocab words I'm using today. :)

Disclaimer: Don't own InuYasha or any of it characters.

**Chapter 6: A New Traveling Companion**

Whatever I did, I just couldn't seem to stay with the same group of people. I guess living in semi-isolation in the Forest of Souls has given me poor social skills. I was still storming through a lightly wooded area, when Haruki finally had enough of me dragging him around. "KAR-MI-NA!!" He whined loudly, struggling in my grasp, which caused me to stop.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said calmly, although I really wasn't very sorry. My anger was still boiling. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Y-you didn't," he seemed to be apologizing to me instead of the other way around.

His innocent red face caused me to calm my raging mind. "It seems you and I are very similar. I can hear water nearby. Let's get a drink." Without waiting for his consent, I continued down the trail I was storming through and soon met with a bubbling brook. I knelt down and brought the sweet water to my lips. The cool liquid trickling down my throat. I exhaled, satisfied. Then I turned to see Haruki drinking from the spring, like a young buck next to his mother fawn. The analogy made me smile softly which caused the shy deer to blush and hide his face.

"Can I call you Ha-chan?"

He looked at me, disgruntled and red. "Ha-chan? But that sounds so girly!"

I chuckled. "Yes, but it's fitting for you."

"Gee, thanks," he stuck out his lower lip sarcastically, but then smiled softly. "Call me whatever you wish."

I stood up and flicked my hair in a supercillious manner. "And you may call me Master Karmina, Queen of the Spirit World! No, all the worlds!"

Haruki gave a small gasp of surprise. "You're the queen of the Spirit world?!"

I bonked him on the head with my fist. "Of course not, you idiot! If I was, what would I be doing, wasting my time here? It was obviously a lie! Just call me Karmina."

He rubbed the lump that had formed on his head, but smiled in a cute, childish manner that nearly made me blush it was so cute. "Karmina then."

I nodded, feeling satisfied with the change of mood. I straightened my legs and stretched out my stiff muscles. I opened my mouth to speak, but then closed it. I was about to say "Let's head out!" but I didn't exactly know where to. My purpose in life now, was to make Sesshoumaru's life miserable, if possible, but I had no idea where to start. Ha-chan saw my anxious look and spoke up.

"Are you alright, Karmina-san?" he asked with polite concern.

I nodded. "Now that I'm not with Inuyasha and the others, I don't really know what to do. Where am I supposed to go now?"

Ha-chan was silent, thinking of how to answer me. It was many minutes before he spoke. "Whenever I got anxious, my mother always said that life will find you. So, for now, we can search for a new place for me to live, and then surely adventure will find you."

I sighed and slowly fell forward so that I rested my forehead on his shoulder. Because of this position, I couldn't see how he interacted, but I could feel his muscles tense up. "If you keep saving me like this, Ha-chan, I might not let you go."

His only reply was a silent "Un."

I lifted my head off of him and inhaled the sweet, fresh air. "Well, I suggest we walk along the main roads, where human villages would be. That'll be the easiest way, as far as I can see it."

He nodded and we started our journey together.

Our first soujorn was at a bustrious human city. It was quite large and full of squabbling people. I tasted many different flavors of souls around here and it was making me kind of hungry. Even though I could taste souls I never ate them. The very thought of it digusted me, like it was cannibalism.

In the center of the city lay the infamous Inajuku castle which housed the king and his three daughters, said to be the most beautiful princesses in the world. Ha-chan was so excited to meet these people, but I knew simple travelers like us would never be allowed into the castle without a legitimate reason, which was few.

We were wandering around the bizarre when we heard some commotion coming from the town square. Curious, we drew forth along with the rest of the crowd to see a man holding up a poster and shouting.

"Exorcist for hire! Exorcist for hire!"

_Exorcist?_ I mused while reading over his poster. _And for the castle, nonetheless. Doesn't this place have a shrine with preist or something? They're not so pour as to have to beg on the streets?_ I was about to move on to look for food when the holy symbol painted on the poster caught my eye. _MONEY!!_

I turned to the lady running a produce booth next to me an inquired about this event. "Excuse me ma'am, but why does the castle need an exorcist?"

The middle-aged woman looked at me as if I was stupid. "You must be a traveler. Mitsuko-sama, the youngest and also the only unwed princess of our castle has taken ill suddenly and won't eat anything. The king believes it to be the work of a poltergeist or demon."

I nodded. "That's quite a quandary. But doesn't the king have his own preist to exorcise for him?"

"Yes," the lady replied, forlorn, "but they have all failed. Nothing they do will work. We've even hired preist from all over the country to cure her, but nothing seems to work. The king is desperate, the reward just keeps getting bigger, but we've run out of people to help us. Plus, if you fail, the king hangs you out of scorn. He's very emotional, miss, so don't try it, if you think you can scam some money out of him."

I shook my head with a sly smile on my lips. "Oh no, no, miss. I'm not going to scam him. He'll get his money's worth, for you see, I'm the greatest exorcist around!"

After making my bold decleration, I left the stunned and slightly doubtful lady to take the spokesman up on his offer. He too, seemed doubtful, but lead me to the castle. He asked us to wait inside the lobby of the castle which was elegantly flourished. It was so wide and spacious that two whole families can live in here comfortably and not know of each other. Now that we were alone, Haruki turned to me and whispered apprehensively into my ear, "Since when were you an exorcist?"

"Oh, I'm not, but I am psychic, in a sense. I think I can scope the princess out and see what's wrong with her."

Haruki frowned, which made him look so cute, my insides squirmed. I knew he'd make a good pet. "I don't like this one bit."

Soon, a steward came to greet us and led us to the top of the castle in a long and grand hallway. He stopped in front of a large sliding door with exquisite patterns of a lake scene painted on the paper. "This is the young princess, Mitsuko-sama's room. The king is inside with her."

"Ah, yes, I can feel the dark aura all the way from here," I lied through my teeth. Well, not a total lie. I could definitely taste a strong soul with ill intent coming from the room.

The steward slid the door open slightly and bowed. "Excuse us, Your Majesty, but I've brought an exorcist who says she can heal your daughter."

"Enter," a low voice growled from inside. The steward opened the door completely, and I was gestured into a dark room. The first thing I spotted was the king. Who couldn't? Even in that commodious room, he still took up all the space. Not that he was fat, but more that he was so muscular and big-boned. He was truly a giant with a grizzly beard and bags under his beady eyes. I could tell he was a smart man, with a sharp wit and tongue, but he appeared worn down from old age and sorrow. I sincerely felt pity for this man from the bottom of my heart.

Next, I saw the princess lying on a tatami mat on the floor and millions of covers over her. He was definitely sick; she gave off all the signs: pale, yellow skin, with the bones showing through, tired, droopy eyes that sighed into her sockets, the tired way her chest moved up and down as she breathed, her dry, white lips, and all the gleam that had gone from her long black hair. _I thought these princesses were supposed to be beautiful._

When the princess layed her tired, sickened eyes on me, she immeadiately appeared full of life. She flew on me in a rage, screaming and clawing at me like a demon. _Like a demon. . ._ Her father and two gaurds held her back as she screeched and made inhuman sounds from her throat. She was definitely possessed. I could taste her soul, faint as it was, hidden beneath the zesty taste of the demon one.

"**You!**" the young princess croaked in an unworldly voice. "**You are a pure soul! Give it to me!**"

A transparent, ghost-like figure, flew out of the girl and came straight towards Ha-chan. I pushed him out of the way, and we avoided the demon, as he hit a servant behind us. He screamed in terror as he shrivled up into a lifeless being. Then it released te servant and it grew bigger, and more solid. The demon was huge and wore red armor and had a red demon mask with horns and white hair. It carried a sword and made its wy towards me and ha-chan.


	7. The Demon of Inajuku Castle

**A/N: **Yeah! I'm back in the groove. Here's Chapter 7, concluding the battle!

**Chapter 7: The Demon of Inajuku Castle**

As the blood-red demon came towards Haruki, I stepped in between them, my arms spread out. "Begone, foul demon! Leave this residence!" I proclaimed, but that was just for show. To Haruki, I whispered over my shoulder, "Run somewhere and hide. I'll take care of this thing." Ha-chan gave me concerned eyes, but nodded. The demon growled and took another step forward. _Let's just hope this guy's growl is bigger than his bite._

I whipped my flute out from the inside of my kimono. "Sonet of the Underworld!" I declared and put the instrument to my lips and began to play the tune I knew so well. It was a quick paced sonet. The tempo went up and down ad made your heart flutter with anticipation. Soon, ghostly figures opped out of the ground and began to swarm around my enemy, leeching onto him with their cold, lifeless hands. As their number grew, they slowly began to pull the demon down with them. However, before I could bring out enough damned souls, the demon flung the ghosts off of him and charged towards me, with poor Haruki cowering behind my back.

My fingers moved like never before and I blew all of my breath into the flute, and just barely made the sheild pop up in time. The demon was reflected off of the glowing orb around us and he crashed into the wall opposite of where I made my stand. The beautifully adorned wall caved in under the demon's weight. _It seems he's solid enough to break things. He's gathered so much energy from the servants and the princess that he's made himself a body. This is bad. I can't send his soul to the other side if he has a body._

The demon rose back up, and held its sword out. It let out a monstrous cry and a blast of energy struck me. I was blasted through the roof and out of the castle. As the dust was blown off of me, I took notice of the fast approaching ground. _Oh, sh-_

Quickly, I held Tsuki out before me, "Tsuki, Transform!" It glowed brightly, but by that time, it was too late.

Haruki's POV

I stared at the gaping hole in the roof that still had some debri falling down. Karmina had just _flown_ out of the roof. She was _blasted_! She wouldn't survive a fall like that, and she didn't have enough time to play one of her magical songs to save herself! "Kar-"

My cry of despair was cut off as the demon charge towards me, its mouth open to suck the very life out of me. I didn't know what to do, I cowered down, wrapped myself into a protective ball and cried for help. But there was a noise louder than mine. There was a huge explosion and I thought the demon had blasted me also, but when I looked up, the demon was no where to be found, and all the walls had been completely obliterated. It was surprising that the castle was still in one piece. I looked to my right, and found someone I had never seen before, but she looked a lot like Karmina.

She had these black markings all over her body, and her eyes had become inverted. Her hair was long and whipping in the wind, and two silvery, webbed wings protruded from her back. She had two fangs and had this white glow about her. Plus, she was holding what looked like Karmina's flute, but longer and with a blade at the end. I gasped. This _was _Karmina.

"Karmina?" I asked in a trembly voice.

Her cold white irises bore straight through me. They were so icy, they made me shiver uncontrollably. It didn't feel like she was looking at me as a human, but more like she was looking at my soul...as an object...as something trivial to her. _As food_, I thought, but quickly waved it out of my mind. Karmina didn't eat souls, she just controlled them. She told me herself he very thought of it was grotesque.

The white demonic Karmina looked back to where there was a hole through a whole line of walls. She must've blasted the demon all the way to the otherside of the castle, but from the roars, he's was coming back. Sure enough, the demon came charging through the wall with its sword raised to kill. But suddenly, its head fell off his shoulders and his body crashed to the floor. I found Karmina standing at the opposite end of the room, her scythe/flute held lightly in her hands and covered with blood. The demon's blood. She had decapitated him so fast, no one could even see it.

But the battle was not over yet. The soul of the demon was still here, and strong. It couldn't attack us physically, but it could harm us spiritually. It set its bloody eyes on me and made to devour my soul. But Karmina was there in a flash, and played a tune so...forboding that I felt the very life being sucked out of me. The demon screamed in terror as it slowly shriveled up and eventually disappeared. The demon had finally been defeated. The entire top half of the castle demolished. It was silent for the longest minute. The steward, the king and the half-dead princess all looked at Karmina with awe and horror. Just like I was.

This new Karmina looked at me with her freezing eyes and slowly, ever so slowly, faced me and knelt before me, so that we were eye level, which only made the chill worse. Her eyes turned hungry, and she put her hand on my cheek. I could feel it suck the warmth from my body, as Karmina's face came closer to mine. My heart rate shot through the roof. _I-I-Is she gon-n-n-na k-k-k-kiss m-m-me?!_ Just before her lips met mine, she collapsed in front of me, and had transformed back to the regular albino that I had come to love. I stared off into the empty space that was once her face, my heart slowly calming down. I couldn't deny this small feeling of disappointment deep in my heart.

Karmina's POV

I woke up on the comfiest bed that I had ever slept on. The room around me was beautiful, with the paper walls painted with majestic scenes of nature litered with tigers. I smiled dreamily. Tigers were such pretty kitties. I giggled in a half-counscious state. "Heehee, pretty kitty," I giggled stupidly. "That rhymes." I finally woke up, shooting out of my bed and looking around. Haruki's was staring at me like I was retarded along with a servant that waited at the door. Wait, a servant...

"Oh, yeah," I said, looking around. "I remember now, I'm at the castle. I was supposed to fight that demon when it-" I remembered the previous eventsthat had led to me being blasted out of the roof top. "Ah, hell! I mean, Heaven, hopefully. I must be dead!" I turned to look at Ha-chan ,and hugged him with tears in my eyes. "Oh, no! Ha-chan! You died too? I'm sorry I couldn't protect you!!!"

"Ah! Karmina, you're not-" He stuttered but a booming voice interrupted him.

"Why are you crying! This is a time to rejoice, well, except for the castle...My daughter has been saved, and we are no longer plagued with this demon!"

I looked up to see the king, and then realized that I wasn't dead. I immeadiatlely went back to my former self. "So, Your Majesty, what about my reward?"

The king looked etchy. His eyes flung to the side and he twittled his fingers. "Well, you see, with the amount of damage you caused to my castle, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take the rewards amount of money to fix it.

"WHAT?!" I couldn't help but scream. All that work! and for nothing?! I gripped my flute tightly. "I'm feeling very..angry, right now. Very..." I looked up with a sinister face, "merciless!!"

The king cowered back and ordered a servant to fetch him as much money as he could carry. He soon came back with a huge pouch full of gold. I smiled triumphantly, and held the money greedily.

We left the castle that day and continued to walk on. "Karmina," Ha-chan scolded me. "That wasn't very nice to take their money."

"Hey, I was promised a reward," I argued. "And besides, it was worth it. I saw you blushing when the princesses saw us off."

Haruki immeadiately turned beet red. "I-I did not!"

"Yes you did!" I teased and ran ahead as he began to chase me. I laughed. That was something I hadn't done in a long time.


	8. Requeim For the Ice Maiden

**A/N: **It's been a while, but here;s the next chapter of _What Is A Soul?_. It turned out to be deeper than I .planned, but that makes it all the better. Plus it speeds things up in the Haruki/Karmina depertment. Well, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't Own any of the InuYasha characters.

**Chapter 8: Requiem For the Ice Maiden**

My nose wrinkled when I felt a sudden drop of cold. I looked up into the groggy sky to see littleorbs of white falling down from the heavens. "Well, this is odd," I murmered.

Ha-chan came up beside me. "I know we're getting into mountainous territory, but this is out of season!" he exclaimed, looking at the snow. "It's late spring!"

I frowned. "Something tells me a demon is causing this."

We treked across the hilly country and by the time we reached a small, poor village, blanketed in snow. The villagers were even more baffled than we were about the snow. Some of them didn't have the proper gear for this kind of weather. '_This snow is unnatural,_' I thought grimly. '_Some of the children may get sick. Plus the crops are going to die in this cold and the people will starve._'

"Ha-chan, let's ask around the village if they know of any ice demons or the like," I ordered him, looking at the nervous villagers.

Haruki's face lit up. "Karmina, you-"

"Don't get me wrong," Karmina stuck her nose in the air. "I'm not helping them. Hopefully, they'll give us some food. I'm starving!"

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We regrouped after an hour and shared information. From what we could gather, there were no known demons in this area, except for the harmless, small kind, that usually kept to themselves. However, there did exist a haunted house further into the mountains. Rumors of strange moanings coming from the decrepit house were frequent, but not as much as reports of seeing a glowing woman in the windows of the house.

"Looks like we're becoming paranormal investigators," Karmina sighed. "You up for a ghost hunt, Ha-chan?"

"You ask that now, but we're already heading for the house," Haruki grumbled, fidgeting.

"What's wrong?" Karmina smirked viciously. "You scared of ghosts?"

"O-of course not!" He barked, flushing red. He was such a terrible liar. "I'm just worrying if you get hurt! This house must be old an rotted! You could fall through the floor or something."

"I'm not that clumsy," I snorted.

They continuned plodding through the snow until they reached an opening in the trees. A wooden house, burdened with snow lay before them. It definitely gave off the vibe of a haunted house. Pieces of it lay strewn about the yard, which was covered in weeds that struggled through the snow to get what little sunlight escaped from the clouds. The windows were so dirty and broken nothing could be seen from the inside, or out.

'_This thing as supernatural written all over it. Plus, I can taste a mournful soul inside._'

"Let's go."

Haruki nodded and followed closed behind me while I walked through the front door. It creaked open with difficulty and when I tried to close it, the wood crumbled and the already ripped paper ripped even more. The inside of the house was worse than the outside. Furniture lay strewn about the floor, overrun with termites. Broken glass littered the floor and some critters dashed across the floor occasionally. A rank smell of mold hung in the atmosphere, and the dim sunlight barely shown through the cracks in the walls. I shivered.

We carefully made our way through the debri checking the floor first to make sure we didn't fall through the floor. A rat scuttled across the floor, glaring eyes red. I jumped, and Haruki jumped farther, knocking me over in his scream. Of course, we fell through the rotting wood of the floor, and plunged into the darkness. I looked around, but could see nothing.

"Ow! That hurt!" Ha-chan cried through the darkness. "I think I fell on something."

"That's me, you idiot!" I screamed. "Get off of me!"

"Ah! Sorry!"

"EEEEKKK! What was that?!"

"What was what?!"

"I felt something touch my butt!"

"Sorry, that was me."

"Hentai!"(1)

"No, I swear it wasn-GAAAAHHH!!!"

"Tryin' to make a move on me in the dark, are ya?"

"No, I swear! I wasn't! I couldn't see and I happened to-"

"Likely story! Now stop flailing about and try to find some sort of light."

"Light?" Well, I see a tunnel of light."

"Really? Where?"

"Over there."

"Oh, I see it."

"Karmina, are we dead?"

"Well, my dad always told me to run away from the light, but I'm not liking the dark too much, either."

"If we are dead, then the light should be much better than the dark, I should say."

As we walked towards the source of light, it grew brighter and brighter until there was a flash, and I squinted my eyes to adjust to the bright surroundings. We were in a small room with rocky walls. The source of light was a glowing girl, sitting on the floor, crying. She had black hair, cropped short, that tucked around her ears. She had bright amethyst eyes that were now full of tears. She looked up at us, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono.

"Are you alive or dead?" she asked us.

"Umm, we're not exactly sure about that right now," Ha-chan answered, sheepishly.

"There's only one way to find out then," the little girl said darkly, standing up. "If we try to kill you and nothing happens, then you are dead, and if you stop moving, then you are dead anyway." She opened her eyes widely suddenly and we were blown back by an unkown force.

We hit the rock walls and dirt fell from the ceiling. It felt like we were being squished, but upright. '_What an amazing amount of spirit force,_' I gritted my teeth at the oppressive pain. '_This girl must've suffered something terrible to have so much searing emotion in her attack._'

"Die, and stay here with me," the child asked in a flat-tone, her wide eyes unblinking. She lifted her hand and there was a sudden swirl of snow. A mini blizzard in the cramped room.

"Karmina!" Haruki shouted.

"What?!" I yelled back, my lungs only being squeezed further, and now frozen.

"I think she's the one causing all the snow in the mountains!"

"No duh, Ahou!"(2)

My body took the emergency measures to start vibrating madly in a frantic hope of creating heat. It wasn't working out too well. I couldn't reach for my flute, but I could get off the wall. I held my arms before me to block the oncoming snow. I took my first step. My arms felt like they were icy stone by now, but I persisted. My next step. I shivered. Next step. And the next. And the next. The next.

The little girl took a step back, beffudled by my assiduous advancement. "St-stay back!" she stuttered, fear gripping her. The winds died down and the snow disappeared. Haruki fell to the floor, and I...I stood still in front of this petite child. We stared into each others eyes what felt like eternity. Her's full of fear, mine, full of hunger.

Slowly, ever s slowly, the child became transparent and wrapped around me like whisps of smoke. I blinked, and then she was gone, and so was I.

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Haruki's POV

A loud grunt escaped my lips as my shoulder met hard floor. With no more oppressive aura from the small girl that opposed us, nothing was keeping my body against the wall, so gravity took its course. I shakily sat up and looked over to find Karmina standing in the middle of the room, very still. Then suddenly, her shoulder-length hair grew longer and darkened to a pale baby blue. Her kimono became a dark midnight blue with cerulean trimmings and floral designs along the hem. She turned around to face me, and her once bright, silver eyes were nowa bright sky blue with crystal clear tears pouring down her cheeks.

"K-karmina?" I gasped. Was this really the same girl? Or did she have other transformations like the scary black one?

At the sound of her name, the girl broke down into more ferverent sobs. Startled, I ran to her side, to see what the problem was.

"I-It's terrible!" she moped into my sleeve, which was now soaked in her tears. "M-my father...-hic-..even though I gave him all my...love...he...locked me...here...in this basement. I was alone! Oh, I was alone...for so long! I eventually rotted away...here...all...alone...I-I...I just wanted...someone...a friend...anyone."

She blew her nose into my sleeve. I resisted the urge to derobe myself right there.

"I...didn't mean to kill them-hic-. I trully loved him! I swear! It's just...I wanted him...with me...always...even after death."

"Y-you..." It dawned on me. "You're not Karmina! You're the little girl! And you killed your father!"

The blue gurl nodded, iping her tears althought they continued to pour. "I did-dn't hate him...or anything...it's just...I missed him so...I was lonely. I...needed somone."

"Then why did you stay here?" I blurted out. I had this bad habit of speaking before thinking. I cringed as she stopped her gasps and sobs.

"Here?" she asked quietly.

I gave a sigh of relief, glad she didn't chastise me. "Here, in this plane. In the Living Realm. When most Souls die, they either go to heaven or hell, depending on whether they're good or not. No matter where you went, there would still be another soul there to accompany you. That's why you're father didn't linger here when you killed him. He went to Heaven...or Hell. If you went there, you would be with friends. Though I highly recommend you go to Heaven. I here it's much nicer there."

She looked at mestupidly, and I wasn't sure how she would react to my little explanation, or if she would react at all. Then suddenly, her slight absence of tears was destroyed by the sudden burst of water works. But this time, she smiled and laughed, too. Needless to say, I was baffled. I've never seen anyone laugh and cry at the same time. But before I could find out the source of her sudden happiness, the blue faded to white, and my albino Karmina had returned.

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Karmina's POV

When I had regained my senses, I was staring at Ha-chan's relieved face which seemed a bit blurry. I then realized that tears were blurring my vision and I quickly wiped them away."Huh? I was crying?"

"Not you," Ha-chan smile, "the girl."

I thought about it for a while and then I came to the conclusion that the girl had possessed me, and these new memories that were flashing before my mind right now must be hers. I cried again, and this time, they were my tears.

"W-Wha?! Karmina?! What's wrong?!" Haruki stuttered, patting my back.

I launched myself into his lap and let all the tears out. Haruki was still for a moment, and then he wrapped his arms around mine.

After I had no more tears left in me, I still lay against Haruki's chest, my eyes and throat sore. "Hey, Haruki," a muttered quietly, so as not to irritate my throat further. "Do you think she went to heaven?"

He smiled softly and then whispered, "Yes."

I smiled too, and then stood up, reaching for my flute. "What are you doing?" Ha-chan asked, still sitting on the ground.

"Playing a Requeim for the Ice Maiden," I replied, and placed my lips to the cold steel, and played.

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(1) _Hentai_ - Pervert.

(2) _Ahou_ - Stupid.

Reviews, please!


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